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Monitor’s role

Monitor is the sector regulator for health services in England and our job is to make the health sector work better for patients. As well as making sure that independent NHS foundation trusts are well led so that they can deliver quality care on a sustainable basis, we make sure:

essential services are maintained if a provider gets into serious difficulties

the NHS payment system promotes quality and efficiency

patients do not lose out through restrictions on their rights to make choices, through poor purchasing on their behalf, or through inappropriate anti-competitive behaviour by providers or commissioners

Healthcare organisations in your area

Your local NHS foundation trust

We make sure public providers of NHS care are well led and able to deliver quality care on an ongoing basis. We do this by setting the governance and operational standards, or ‘bar’, that all NHS foundation trusts must meet to be eligible for the NHS provider licence that we now issue.

Find out more about the performance of your local NHS foundation trust in this directory.

In serious cases where hospitals are not providing good and safe care to patients, and the management cannot fix the problems by themselves, the foundation trust may be put into ‘special measures’.

Independent providers of NHS funded services

We also license independent providers of NHS services (both commercial and third sector) that have been approved by the Care Quality Commission. We monitor the continuing performance of all licensed providers to make sure the required standards are being maintained.

Joined-up care for patients

Patients with complex care needs may receive health and social care services from multiple providers and in different care settings. This can lead to duplication, unnecessary delays and poor outcomes for patients.

Choosing your hospital

If you’ve been referred to see a specialist by your GP, then you have the right to choose which hospital you go to. The NHS Choices website provides further information on choosing a hospital.

As sector regulator, we also make sure patients do not lose out through restrictions on their rights to make choices, through poor purchasing on their behalf, or through inappropriate anti-competitive behaviour by providers or commissioners.

There are rules governing choice and competition in the NHS. Please contact Monitor if you have a query about anything relating to procurement, choice or competition in the NHS.

The NHS payment system

With NHS England, we are also responsible for regulating payments made by commissioners to providers for all NHS services.

Monitor sets the rules that govern the prices paid for services, while the grouping of services for payment purposes is done by NHS England. This work is critical to making sure every pound of taxpayers’ money spent on health goes as far as it can and results in the best possible care for patients.